That really sounds like a dumb rule...since juniors can leave early, but people who get their degree have to wait until the actual graduation...nice job NCAA asswipes.

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I assume it's because juniors have dropped out of classes while seniors are still trying to earn their degree...nothing wrong w/ that. Hawk will stay in shape and be able to catch up, and as was noted, gives more reps to the other guys

i didn't see anywhere in the article that Hawk couldn't play. it just mentioned holmes, right? maybe holmes just isn't finished with his coursework yet and has to take one more class, during the early summer session... ? my college holds three graduations a year and it is WAY smaller than OSU, so i wouldn't be surprised if the june graduation is held after the first summer session. but, not sure.

The headline of the AP article was jarring: "Rule Bars Holmes From Steelers Workouts."

Wow, we thought. What did the guy do? Shoot a cop?

But then it became obvious. The Steelers' first-round pick, a receiver from Ohio State, cannot participate in any workouts with the Steelers until after graduation day in Columbus, due to an antiquated NCAA-NFL rule that prohibits practice prior to the day on which the caps and gowns are donned.

Nevermind the fact that Holmes would not have been grabbing a sheepskin, given his decision to forgo his senior season to catch pigskins. Rules, after all, are rules.

Still, we're baffled by the fact that this story got picked up by newspapers throughout the country without reference to the reality that the rule affects more than 15 percent of the NFL's class of first-rounders.

A.J. Hawk, Donte Whitner, Bobby Carpenter, and Nick Mangold also played football at AN Ohio State University that doesn't graduate until June. So at least some of them can't practice until June, either. (We're told that Hawk already has graduated, which apparently makes him eligible for pre-June practice.)

We're not being critical. (Okay, maybe we are.) Regardless, shouldn't someone have connected the dots on this one?

Moreover, it's not as if the Steelers or the Packers or Cowboys or the Jets or the Bills didn't realize that the rule applied. (Okay, maybe the Bills didn't know.) It's a provision that has been in place for years, and it's a fact of life for any team that contemplates drafting a Buckeye.

And since we've yet to hear any NFL personnel guy ever express reluctance to draft an Ohio State star because the guy can't get on the field until June, we view the whole thing as a non-issue.